Educational Methods Commons^™

Introduction: Education Reform Past, Present, And Future, Jeffrey Manuel

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This is an introduction to the special issue of The Councilor on the topic of education reform.

Author biography: Jeffrey Manuel is an assistant professor in the Department of Historical Studies at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. His research and public scholarship examine the social, cultural, and political consequences of deindustrialization and envirotechnical history. His research has appeared in several journals. He is currently working on a manuscript that describes efforts to fight industrial decline in the Lake Superior iron mining region. He is also active in public history, including exhibit design and oral history.

Review Of "Teaching Economics In Troubled Times: Theory And Practice For Secondary Social Studies", Scott Wolla

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

No abstract provided.

Channeling Your Inner “Ken Burns”: Research, Films, & Student Voices, Robin Wanosky

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Asking students to create a documentary film is one way for high school students to reinforce existing research and critical thinking skills. As they develop their research question, they control their project and therefore decide the direction it goes. An unintended, yet rewarding, outcome from this project has been watching seventeen year olds discover their voice.

Review Of "The Challenge Of Rethinking History Education: On Practices, Theories, And Policy", Michelle Stacy

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

No abstract provided.

Public School Principals’ Perceptions Concerning The Hiring Of Social Studies Teachers, Lindon Joey Ratliff, Joshua Watson, Patricia Ratliff

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

The authors employed a qualitative research design to explore issues pertaining to the selection and interviewing of social studies applicants for teaching positions in public secondary schools. They specifically focused on the quality of the applicant pool, characteristics of desired candidates and the school principals’ perspectives of a desired interview. Analysis of the principals’ responses to the interview questions yielded two primary categories related to their perspectives regarding potential social studies teachers: (a) personal and professional educator attributes and (b) a candidate’s actions within the formal setting of an interview. Subcategories were developed that further delineated the expectations administrators have …

Review Of "The Long Road To Antietam: How The Civil War Became A Revolution", Stephen Hansen

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

No abstract provided.

Teaching Illinois History Through Primary Sources, Laura Fowler

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This articles looks at three major themes in Illinois history: settlement, slavery, and the growth of Chicago. Each theme presents a primary source that helps deepen a student's understanding of the historical issues. Through maps, documents, and census data, students can use digital repositories to better understand the history of Illinois in the nineteenth century.

Review Of "The 1970s: A New Global History From Civil Rights To Economic Inequality", Christopher Babits

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

No abstract provided.

Review Of "Maps Of Time: An Introduction To Big History", James Sabathne

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

No abstract provided.

Uncovering Marginalized Topics Using Webquests: From Atlanta To The Zoot Suit Riots, Gregory Samuels, Michael Berson

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

A critical part of social studies instruction is involving students in making sense of social issues in the past and present to help inform their decisions in the future. Through engaged inquiry students can tackle relevant topics associated with race, class, culture, gender, language, and nationality and explore how these challenging issues mitigate people’s experiences. Moreover, these issues reflect similar tensions that students encounter in their everyday lives. Although these social issues have historical and contemporary relevance, they often are marginalized in state standards and textbooks.

A Holocaust-Based Investigative Project: Historical Research For Secondary School Students, David Lindquist

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Personalizing the Holocaust, that is, moving a study of the event beyond the staggering numbers that often play a central role in units about the Shoah to a focus that is meaningful for students, is a necessary factor in planning effective curricula about the topic. This article outlines an internet-based research project in which a personal bond develops between students and individuals whose lives were changed forever by the Holocaust. In addition, the project allows students to practice research skills that can be transferred to the study of other historical topics.

Review Of "Fateful Lightning: A New History Of The Civil War And Reconstruction", Christopher Babits

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

No abstract provided.

Teaching Lincoln K-12 Workshop: Knowledge Gains And Teaching Intentions, Caroline Pryor, Brandt Pryor

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This mixed methods study evaluated a professional development workshop for teachers funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). NEH’s online evaluation found that most teachers believed the workshop to be an extraordinary learning experience, but information about teacher knowledge gain and their intended use of this knowledge was needed. An in-house study evaluated the workshop’s four major areas: (a) content scholars, (b) advance readings, (c) museum scholars, and (d) Lincoln Landmarks. For each area, the study measured (a) the utility for the teacher’s instruction, (b) the amount of knowledge gained in the workshop, and (c) the likelihood that …

Keeping Social Studies Alive In The Elementary Classroom: Countering The Effects Of Nclb In Southwestern Illinois Schools, Bethany Hill-Anderson, Andria Harrison, Andrea Tardino

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This research project focuses on collaborative partnerships between university faculty, graduate students, and local cooperating teachers. Pre-service teachers surveyed cooperating teachers (N=30) regarding their opinions and practices in social studies education. The data led to positive changes in a university methods course and increased pedagogical skills for teacher candidates.

This venture is a model of effective collaboration between university faculty, graduate students, pre-service teachers, and cooperating teachers who have worked together to gain a deeper understanding of the purpose and challenges faced by social studies educators. The overall goal of the project is to promote social studies education for all …

Review Of "Cartographies Of Time: A History Of The Timeline", Robert Paulett

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

No abstract provided.

Review Of "The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln And American Slavery", Mary Lopez

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

No abstract provided.

Engagement In The History Classroom: Problem-Based Learning And Primary Sources, Lauren Seghi

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Too often today, students have to sit idly in a history classroom listening to a lecture or reading out of a textbook which is why many people in society (adults and children alike) do not like or understand the complexity of history. This article argues that in order for students to be engaged in "doing" history in the classroom, they need to take part in problem-based learning (pbl) activities using primary sources from the past.

Teaching Social Structure In A Poststructural Classroom: A (Mild) Defense Of An Economic Deterministic Approach, Cory Blad

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Teaching social structure is difficult due to the fact that these supposed influences are regularly invisible and often function without the knowledge of those being influenced. At the same time, most of us – in particular undergraduate college students – are resistant to the idea that our actions and choices are somehow constrained or influenced. This essay examines the challenge of teaching social structure to potentially resistant groups and defends the use of a common budget-based exercise to connect students to the potential of structural constraints on individual action.

The Untruth Of Truth: A Suggestion For Teaching In The Information Age, Angelo Letizia

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

The notion of representation has entertained philosophers and thinkers for centuries. How can anything, any idea, any concept or object truly be represented by a language, institution, idea or image? In the information age, the notion of representation is even more pressing. Twenty-four hour news feeds, YouTube, social media, government propaganda, iPhones, the media, the advertising industry and other agencies and devices disseminate a seemingly infinite amount of images that portend to represent something, from consumer products to political intentions. However, more times than not, supposed truths do not correspond to any underlying reality because they no longer need to. …

The Heart Of K'É: Transforming Diné Special Education And Unsettling The Colonial Logics Of Disability, Sandra Yellowhorse

American Studies ETDs

This paper takes up the roles of ideology and spatiality as they impact Diné students and learners in understanding conceptions of normativity, neuro-diversity and bodily variance. I am concerned with how the movement and creation of Indigenous schools and their praxis still maintain and often times produce settler colonial ideologies of being, personhood, difference and ability. I illustrate the challenges that Diné planners and educators face in entrenching cultural knowledge and language into their educational initiatives, while some of the problematic manifestations and expressions of normativity present themselves through state polices, federal law and mainstream curriculum.

I focus on the …